


Daffodils and Chamomile Tea

by strawburry



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, AtsuHina, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I am so tired, M/M, Mentioned Hinata Shouyou, Miya Atsumu in Love, Oops, POV Third Person, Pining Sakusa Kiyoomi, flowershop au, honestly, honestly this idea was too good for me to write, i did not do it justice, i'm tagging at 2am, please help, sakuatsu?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25857826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawburry/pseuds/strawburry
Summary: Miya Atsumu, and his gross blonde hair, dripping wet. And the way he looked in his blue button up paired with athletic shorts and his smile. And the face he made when he was thinking over Sakusa’s question. Sakusa’s question about love. And how his eyes beamed when he described what it means to love, for him a sacrifice. And Sakusa is spacing off again. Thinking, wondering if he’s loving incorrectly, if there’s even a way to love incorrectly.Or in which Sakusa Kiyoomi regrettably and pitifully enough, falls in love with one of his customers- Miya Atsumu- who like anyone buying flowers already has that special someone.String of emotions in relation to events, Sakusa focused.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu
Kudos: 6





	Daffodils and Chamomile Tea

**Author's Note:**

> Carnations symbolize mourning  
> Monstera Deliciosas symbolize the honoring of a long life  
> Iris’ symbolize hope  
> Orange roses symbolize desire  
> White roses symbolize pureness and are associated with weddings  
> Daffodils symbolize unrequited love

The smell of the warm chamomile tea drifts up from the mug sitting on the small countertop away from the cashier and business related papers. Sakusa inhales, calmly, deeply. He closes his eyes for a second and then drinks the remaining tea, feeling the warmth spread to his belly and chest through his throat. He stands up, keys in hand and unlocks the door, simultaneously turning on the “we are open” sign. 

As he’s moving back to sit behind the counter he hears the bell above the door jingle, an older lady walks in. She follows Sakusa up to the counter, floating behind him. Upon his repositioning behind the counter, the lady leaned up against her cane, “Good morning, do you by any chance sell carnations?” she spoke slowly, weakly, as if she were carrying the weight of the world and then some. 

Sakusa, ever patient, listened to her, nodded, and stood up from his spot again. He helped her to the floral coolers where he kept bouquets. The frail old lady pointed to a small bouquet of pink and white carnations and smiled. Sakusa assumed she wanted those and took them from the back aisle of the cooler and walked back behind the cashier, placing them on the counter. 

The lady handed Sakusa money and left a tip. He mustered up a smile, as big as he could a challenge for him, if you knew anything about Sakusa Kiyoomi ---the lady smiled back nostalgically as she grabbed the bouquet and promptly left. 

The rest of the morning shift was slow, the store left barren and Sakusa was microfocused on the tiny particles of dust and lint floating around. He found his leg shaking, something he never controlled, like when your fingers twitch. He stood up and out of habit began cleaning the coolers, the windows, the counter and placed more change into the cashier. 

When he was done and sat back down on his stool behind the cashier box his weird lower back pain with unknown origins started again, he placed his hands on his knees, inhaled sharply, until he felt his chest tighten, an effort to release the tension from his back and shoulders. 

Once his lunch break starts and he’s warming up last night's leftovers, a family of three walks in, what appears to be two sisters and a smaller child. Searching for a small cherry tree. Sakusa internally grumbles and the thought of having to go behind the main building of the store into the outside area.

Sakusa, keys in hand, motioned for the family to follow him out into the back. He unlocked the small gate they had, protecting the plants from any animals or weird plant thieves. He should’ve seen it coming, the minute the gate cracked open the little kid ran in the opposite direction and then he was left in an awkward silence with the younger sister, who just stared at him. 

“Should we wait for them to come back?” the girl seemed more interested in the plants rather than Sakusa’s question as she glanced around. Sakusa felt awkward and out of place, he cleared his throat and the girl flinched, finally looking up. Sakusa repeated himself, something he hated doing-- “Should we wait for them?”

“Yeah, probably, this happens a lot haha,”. She paused, looking around the garden, “how long have you worked here?” small talk to keep them occupied, it was better than nothing he supposed. He inhaled and willed his social battery to increase. “Well I just recently opened the store so not long. Just a couple of weeks I’ve been open but it’s been my family's property for ages; it was just barren and I decided to remodel it and make a profit.” It was Sakusa’s turn to glance awkwardly around at the plants. 

“Oh,” she nodded, pursed her lips and then smiled, if ever so awkward. And then like a saving grace, the older sister (and who Sakusa now assumes is her son) emerged from the bushes of cranberries. “Should we start looking?” Sakusa hummed, and set off walking, trusting that they could follow his pace. By the time the group reached the cherry trees, Sakusa was grinding his teeth. He knew he wasn’t a kid-friendly person, but this was just another level, every other plant they had walked by was now missing half of its leaves. The older sister somehow managed to talk the younger sister out of buying a cherry tree and instead they settled on a small monstera deliciosa.

Sakusa fumed internally as he led them back to the main building of the store and to the check out. He didn’t muster up a smile (afraid it would look more like a grimace) but he did wave them goodbye and gave them a starter pack on houseplants and a proper care guide. And decided against charging them for the poor plants.

His stomach grumbled and he finally sat down to eat. His food was cold. He sighed and warmed up the small meal again, hoping no other clients would come in during that time. He made a note to hire an extra worker.

Sakusa decided that today was peculiar. Thirty minutes before closing a man came in, half dressed casually and half in athletic clothes. He wandered around the store for a while until Sakusa had looked back up from his food and found the man debating with himself in a mumble in front of a cooler, hand gestures and all.

Sakusa couldn’t stop himself with this one and before he realized his head was tilted to the right and he was grimacing. He convinced himself that a customer was a customer no matter how bizarre, he stood from behind the counter and raised his voice.

“What can I help you with tonight?” the disheveled male looked up from the cooler of lilies, nodded and walked towards the counter in three long strides.

“Do you- what type of flowers should I buy for a first date?” he asked as he ran his hand through his hair, a dirty blonde that didn’t even look half alive. “It’d be irises, but it depends on-” before he could finish the man walks over to the cooler he was previously at. He points to a bouquet of sunflowers- “those?” Sakusa can’t stop himself before he’s chuckling. 

The man stares at him, bewildered, then realizes his mistake, points to some lilies, and again asks Sakusa if they’re irises. Soon he starts to sport his own smile, one of the greasiest things Sakusa had ever laid eyes on.

He composes himself and proceeds to open the cooler and point to the irises in the corner, bouquets made of irises and lilies, irises and sunflowers, irises and tulips. The blonde man makes a face of realization, nods and laughs. It’s a sound Sakusa quickly gets attached to, it’s dangerous. He grabs the sunflower and lilies bouquet.

Sakusa let’s the cooler close and walks back to the counter, the man looks around a bit more, seemingly he talks himself out of buying a teddy bear and balloons, waving around the bouquet with his hand gestures, Sakusa worries but tries not to show it. He walks back to the counter, sets down the bouquet and clears his throat, his cheeks tint red “Do you think you could put a ribbon around ‘em and make it more romantic or something?”.

Sakusa feels himself smiling but bites the inside of his cheeks. “Of course,” he takes it off the counter and turns around “what color ribbon?” the tint across his face goes impossibly reder and he stutters out an “orange”. He wants to press more, find out who the flowers are for, maybe even tease him for being romantic. Instead he nods and cuts the ribbon, already in motion to tie it around the brown and white paper around the stem of flowers.

The man simply stares down at his phone. He places his card on the counter when Sakusa puts the flowers back down and simply mutters a “tip a 5%” he nearly forgets his card as he leaves, taking it back at the last minute. 

He turns back around and heads towards the door, intent on leaving and that's when Sakusa thanks any and all greater powers in the world for his obsessive cleanliness and need to polish the windows. The man notices his reflection and chuckles at his own attire. He’s wearing athletic shorts and a blue button up. He turns half way on the heels of his feet, facing Sakusa and the counter again. 

“Do ya happen to have a bathroom?” Sakusa just nods quietly. The other blinks, “Mind if I borrow it after I fetch my clothes outta my car?”. After a moment Sakusa processes the question. “Not at all,” Atsumu nods and the bell above the door jingles as he walks out to what Sakusa presumes is his car and forgotten clothes.

And then he starts over thinking. Wondering: Was this man not going to stop by his house? Why would he ask to use the restroom to change if he could do it in the comfort of his own home? Who would voluntarily change in a public restroom rather than their own house? And when the stranger came back in, Sakusa realized he was grimacing, “If ya don’t want me tah use it that’s alright too.” Sakusa straightened out his expression as best as he could. 

“I was just questioning” he trailed off. The other man seemed to understand and completed his question “Were you wonderin’ why I don't just change at home?” Sakusa simply nodded “Well ya see,” the other man sighed theatrically, simultaneously placing his elbow on Sakusa’s counter, and subsequently his chin in his palm. 

“Ya see,” he hummed a bit rocking slightly on his feet and getting dangerously close to Sakusa’s face. Sakusa’s face was growing redder every time he came closer. He inhaled “I have this date” and with that Sakusa was snapped back to reality. The murmurs that made his chest beat faster came to a halt. Why else would the man be buying flowers if not for his date or even significant other.

“My date deserves the best, I worked hard on getting him to agree to tonight so I need to be a proper gentleman. Pick him up, buy him flowers, open doors, the whole nine yards, but I mean he’s a pretty amazing guy. I mean he’s a social butterfly and it seems like everyone is after him. He’s super competitive, and amazing at volleyball, he’s such a little nerd for the sport. You should see him when he wins or even scores, his entire face lights up with this huge smile. Well maybe you shouldn’t because you would fall in love- not that I’m in love I just like the guy. It’s not like I’m saying I wanna spend the rest of my life with him though, not at all.” Atsumu realized he had been talking on and on about Shōyō. He cleared his throat, repressing the slight blush forming due to embarrassment, he really was a fool in love. 

“Is it alright if I use your bathroom, then, Mister,” Sakusa cringed at the “mister” surely he wasn’t that much older than the customer who was now extending his hand in a shake. “Sakusa Kiyoomi, no mister.” Atsumu laughed at that and firmly gripped Sakusa’s hand “Miya Atsumu, but only call me Atsumu.” he let go off the hand shake and Sakusa’s hand, “Oh, and thank you for the flowers and lendin’ me yer bathroom.” Sakusa nodded and handed Atsumu the keys. 

Being a flower shop owner was not the ideal profession if you wanted to date one of your clients.

The next time Miya Atsumu came into the store he was sopping wet (yes, Sakusa is aware of this huge cliché) truth be told, he even rolled his eyes when Atsumu walked in, almost slipping on his wet soles. Too in a rush to wipe his feet on the mat.

“Can I get a single rose,” Sakusa simply turned around,trying his darn hardest not to roll his eyes he picked a red rose from one of the buckets and began tying it when Atsumu cleared his throat “do you have any white or yellow ones?” now that was unexpected. Sakusa nodded, “Which color, if it’s a single rose you can only have one color.” it came in a tone harsher than Sakusa had meant it, luckily for him Atsumu was snorting. “Right, Kiyoomi, you blunt entrepreneurist,” he seized chuckling and he acquired a serious demeanor, “an orange rose.” and Sakusa found himself exhaling in relief. 

Sakusa turned around, placing the red rose back into the bucket of water it belonged in and moving to choose an orange rose. “You know, being a florist isn't entrepreneurial, I didn't create anything new, simply opened my own store”. He just heard Atsumu hum, his shoes squeak and then his voice was closer “I know but entrepreneurial sounds cooler”. Sakusa stifled a chuckle and focused on cutting the paper and ribbon.

He turned back to look at Atsumu, scissors in hand. And before he could stop himself he was speaking; “Do you know the meaning behind an orange rose?” Atsumu stared blankly. “Flowers have meanings?” Sakusa let out a puff of a laugh, “Yeah, I’ll assume you don’t, would you like to know?” he asked as he picked up an orange rose that was halfway to opening, wrapping it around a plastic sheet and tying it with a white lace ribbon.

Atsumu nodded, hand moving up to bite his nails. Sakusa turned back to look at Atsumu. “Don’t do that. Your hand is super dirty I bet, and a majority of germs live under your nails.” Atsumu lowered his hand slowly, slightly ashamed.

“An orange rose means desire” Atsumu hummed, “I hope he knows that, or at least knows what flowers mean. Sakusa finished wrapping the rose and turned, placing the flower gently on the counter and speaking “Are you afraid to tell him you want him? Or simply afraid to feel it?” he felt himself squinting at Atsumu, studying his next movement and how he processed the question, fortunately he wasn’t offended. Just thinking. And based on the expression on Atsumu’s face and the time he took to come up with an answer Sakusa struck a chord- or maybe Atsumu hadn’t thought of his relationship in this way. 

“I'm not so much scared to face my feelings, I'm more scared he doesn't feel the same way.” he looked up at Sakusa, content with his answer. Sakusa hummed, processing the information, maybe he shouldn’t have asked. Now it was his turn to come up with a proper response. 

“I don't think you should jump into a relationship where there is no future and no safety, if you don't know for certain the person likes you the way you like them you'll simply end up hurting yourself-” Sakusa cut himself short, realizing he was rambling and he would soon bring up his past. Atsumu wouldn't have needed time to think if not for Sakusa speaking before Atsumu could counter.

“That'll be $3.50 please” Atsumu opened and closed his mouth while he dug his pockets for quarters. He retorded, “I disagree, I think that a person should put everything they have into a relationship, even if it isn't safe- feelings are subject to change- the other person may learn to admire you for being brave. Found ‘em” he took out two quarters and placed them on the counter, along with three soggy dollar bills and picked up the rose from the counter. 

Before leaving the space he pushed an equally soggy five dollar bill in the tip jar “for the thought provoking question, thank you Omi.” And God if the damned nickname didn't make Sakusa’s heart race. 

The interaction stuck with him the rest of the day, like a post-it note in his mind. What type of crazy ideology was that, giving one person your all, even when you know they don’t love you. Why? Simply because you love them. But your feelings would never be returned, you would just wind up heartbroken. Sakusa has to physically shake his head to get rid of the thought. And at that moment another customer came in. 

Sakusa composes himself, and stares down as a man with a receding hairline walks briskly over to the cooler of rose bouquets, mumbles to himself (probably about the price) and opens the cooler to choose a bouquet of a dozen red roses. “Going with the classics,” he says, half chuckling to Sakusa, who in response musters up a tiny chuckle and nods. “The missus is angry at me, says I never help around the house. He exhaled as he placed the bouquet on the counter, “thought this might make her a tad bit happier.”

And this is the part when Sakusa is forced to make conversation. “Well a classic red rose always works wonders.” the man chuckles, “I sure hope you’re right,”. The man crosses his arms, as if warming himself. Sakusa finds the action weird, the shop was just as cold as outside, if not more. Nevertheless he presses in the numbers on the register for a bouquet of roses.

The man rocks on the balls of his feet, a movement that reminds Sakusa of Miya Atsumu, and his gross blonde hair, dripping wet. And the way he looked in his blue button up paired with athletic shorts and his smile. And the face he made when he was thinking over Sakusa’s question. Sakusa’s question about love. And how his eyes beamed when he described what it means to love, for him a sacrifice. And Sakusa is spacing off again. Thinking, wondering if he’s loving incorrectly, if there’s even a way to love incorrectly.

Then he hears the man “How much will it be?” Sakusa, snapping back to the warm yellow of the flower shop and the sun had pushed through the clouds and was now filtering through the windows. He quickly looks back to the bouquet and then to the cashier, “$10.50” he clears his throat in an effort to forget about the blonde. The man takes out his wallet and fumbles through it, he pulls out a 10 and a 5 dollar bill, handing them over to Sakusa slowly, as if they were his most prized possessions. 

Sakusa almost felt bad taking them, almost but he was thinking, changing his definition of love.

A week went by and again Miya Atsumu strolled into Sakusa’s store, this time more composed, definitely dry. And seemingly more determined. Although Sakusa isn’t sure- he just knows that there’s a fire in Atsumu’s eyes, one that will acquire and consume.

And that’s how Sakusa ends up red. Atsumu calls out his nickname, and when Sakusa comes to Atsumu is half a foot away from his face, he can feel the others' breath and the tone of teasing in his voice, “Who ya thinkin’ about Omi? Yer lover?” he asks while wiggling his eyebrows. 

When Sakusa comes to, he pulls back like he had been stung “Ouch, do I smell bad or somethin’? Ya know, you should tell me, if I do, I have an important date today,” Sakusa shakes his head. Atsumu nods in recognition, he claps his hands and sighs, a smile forming on his face. “Well then you know the meanin’ of flowers right?” Sakusa nods again, he’s still trying to recover from Atsumu’s sudden proximity. Sakusa wishes there were some way to control his blood flow with his brain. “Well, would there be an extra fee for consulting the flower specialist?” Sakusa assumes he’s the specialist, and not in fact google. “No extra fee”.

Atsumu nods, chuckling at his own joke and then inhales, he thinks for a moment- that same face from back then, when Sakusa asked him about love emerges again- an exhale. “How do I tell this guy- uhm my date that I want to go- that i want to-” Atsumu huffs and rubs his hand on his face, he tries again.

“That I want to seal the deal with him and love him for the rest of our lives because I really like him or whatever, well not whatever but it’s not like I’m dyin’ to live with him or something, I just like his presence and spendin’ time with him is fun. It’s fun I guess, agh- the point is that I like him, I want to give him flowers that will say that.” Sakusa felt something in his chest sink, maybe fear. What does one usually feel when someone you just realized you like also just confess their love for the first time to a third party. Instead of pondering the million dollar question he focused on the suddenly ginormous hangnail on his thumb that he began to pick at with his pointer finger. Atsumu rubbed his face, he was red. He wasn't sure whether it was frustration or embarrassment or just blushing.

“Omi why you gotta ask all these weird philosophical things and make my life hard.” Sakusa was certain that his question wasn’t philosophical like the last, but he still knew he would think about Atsumu and the mysterious man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Sakusa forced a smile and then as best as he could he forced himself to speak without a break in his voice, “sounds like a tulip bouquet would be nice for your message” Sakusa said as he stood from the small stool behind the counter. 

Atsumu tilted his head, “And what exactly do tulips stand for, what is the message you convey when you give them?” Sakusa thought on how to answer Atsumu’s question as he walked over to the cooler, “Well, who’s Mr. Philosophical now huh?” Atsumu chuckled a bit. “No but really, what do tulips mean?”, he had asked it in the most innocent and soft voice Sakusa had ever heard from a grown man. 

The feeling in his chest settled even further, crawling up to his throat through his guts. He spoke, biting his cheeks before, he inhaled deeply, “well it depends on the color but usually tulips represent perfect love or deep love-” Atsumu cut him off before he could go on to explain why “that’s perfect, thank you Omi”. And there was the nickname. 

The feeling in his chest tightened when Atsumu reached for a bouquet of orange, yellow, and pink tulips. “These are all his favorite colors. How much is it?” He asks as he walks toward the check out, Sakusa trails behind him. He knows his favorite colors, he talks about him like the sun, like his world wouldn't be right without him, he wants to spend his life with him, he’s buying him tulips. Tulips.

“How much will it be Omi?” and oh. Oh. Sakusa realized he wished that’s how Atsumu would talk about him. But then, Sakusa’s too late isn’t he. He’s just the flower shop owner, and he just happened to fall in love with someone he can’t have.

“It’ll be $12.50” Atsumu fumbles with his wallet, he takes out a ten dollar bill and then fumbles through his pockets for 2 crumpled up dollar bills and a pair of quarters, before Sakusa can stop himself he’s asking “What happened to your fancy credit card?” Atsumu chuckles. “May or may not have been stolen.” he grunts a bit, placing the money on the counter, crossing his arms, and rocking on the balls of his feet. 

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear, I hope you recover everything soon.” Sakusa takes the flowers and turns around, wrapping them out of instinct “Orange ribbon?”. Atsumu looks up from his feet which were still rocking him back and forth “Yes, orange,” he exhaled quietly, something that seemed to breathe tension and stress out of him and into the air “my life is kinda upside down right now.” he said it with jazz hands and a forced smile, it didn’t look comfortable. Sakusa chuckled, “I can sort of tell, what’s been going on? I know I’m just the dude you buy from flowers from but I’m all ears”. 

Atsumu hums, “Well, I was at a dinner date in this big ol’ fancy place with the guy I’ve been dating” Sakusa hummed, he knew the one. “And so I mean fancy like I reserved us tables and everything right? And when the time comes to pay the waiter comes to the table with those little black book things- you know the ones where you put the money and sometimes they have chocolate in ‘em and they have the receipt in ‘em- yeah one of those, anyway, he gives it to me and I put my card in it” Sakusa is nodding in acknowledgment while wrapping the tulips.

“So I’m sittin’ there with my date and I’m waitin’ for the waiter to come back with my card and he never does. The next person to come is the manager and he’s askin’ me if I could clear the table because some other couple is waiting for it. So I told him about how I never got my card back and the waiter's name and whatnot and we hung around for a while but he never got the waiter to come back.” Atsumu sighs again, running his hand through his hair and Sakusa turns around, walking back to the counter to give Atsumu his bouquet and take the money off the counter. Atsumu nods at him as Sakusa puts the money in the cashier box.

Atsumu leans against the counter, coming into Sakusa’s space and unlike always Sakusa doesn’t really think he minds. If anything he wished he were a little closer, like that time that he was dozing off about Atsumu, and had come back to reality to realize he was sharing the same air with him. “So then the manager tells me to give her my number and contact info and stop my card and all that stuff and so I did and then we left. Still haven’t heard anything from her but I stopped my cards transactions.” this time Atsumu just ruffles up his hair. He grabs the tulips and slowly steps backwards, away from the counter. 

“How’ve you been Omi?” there’s the nickname again. Sakusa clears his throat “I’ve been alright” Atsumu squints at him. “I feel like yer lyin’ but I won’t press it. You’re just the dude I buy flowers from right.” Atsumu says it teasingly, half chuckling. He grabs the bouquet off the counter and turns around. He walks out the door of the flower shop, bell jingling. 

Something in Sakusa sinks, he was just the guy selling him flowers. Flowers he would give to the man he loved. Sakusa inhaled, it seemed as if all the tension and stress just settled into his body.

A little over a year passed until Atsumu came to visit again. Sakusa had been doing fine, he managed to subdue the strange feeling in his chest. He didn’t yearn to hear Atsumu’s chuckle. Didn’t miss the nickname he had been given. Didn’t daydream about their conversations when the days went by slow and the customers poured in like drops of honey. He didn’t immediately think of Atsumu if someone ever rocked on the balls of their feet. He definitely didn’t wish it was Atsumu invading his personal space instead of random customers. Sakusa was doing alright. 

Emphasis on was. “Omi!” he flinched at the nickname and the brash voice he hadn’t heard in so long. “Long time no see huh?” “Yeah, I was starting to wonder if you’d fallen off the face of the earth”. That might’ve been beneficial to Sakusa actually because now he was feeling that tightness come back to his chest, the one he had willed away months ago. He took a sip of his chamomile tea.

Atsumu laughed “friendly as ever I see, I was here wondering if you could do bigger orders?” Atsumu was leaning against the counter now and Sakusa had stood, reaching for his notebook that contained all information on the flower shop.

“Depends on how big?” Atsumu nods and takes out a crumpled piece of paper from his jeans “Well, it’s more quantity than big, I need six bouquets as centerpieces and then lots of petals, also uhm maybe one bigger center piece for,” he started mumbling to himself and that’s when Sakusa spoke up. “So you need seven centerpieces, one larger than the others, and lots of petals? What are you having a wedding or something?” Sakusa asked it half joking, a small chuckle leaving his lips. 

And then he saw Atsumu’s expression as he looked up. “Omi, you figured it out so fast, you little genius you”. The tightness in his chest engulfed him, he felt lightheaded. Sakusa looked down towards his feet, trying his best to ease the nausea that came with blood rushing to his head. 

He must’ve looked sick because Atsumu rested his hand on his shoulder, providing some grounding. Sakusa straightened himself up, forcing himself away from the touch. “It looks like it’ll be about $60, give or take of coure, depending on the date, the type of flowers you want for the centerpieces, if you need me to drop them off, when you need them by.” Atsumu looked overwhelmed.  
”Well first off, how are you? You just got super weird and nauseous.” Sakusa inhaled and took a step back from the hand that was rising again. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me I’m just the guy who sells you flowers. Now?” Sakusa’s tone was vial, he knew and Atusmu wore a hurt expression, he inhaled and spoke “Here what about this, you give me your number, or card, or something and I’ll text you all the details or I’ll call you”.

Sakusa hummed in agreement and tore off the corner of a page from his notebook. He reached for a pen and quickly wrote his name and number. “Sorry I don’t have any cards.” Atsumu folded it and placed it in his wallet. He waved him off “it’s alright, now I got your number.” he wiggled his eyebrows and Sakusa willed himself not to chuckle. “I’ll be seein’ ya!” he walked out of the shop again, bell jingling and sunlight coming in behind him. 

All of his progress crumbled. The tightness crawled back up his stomach into his throat. He felt his face fall. Atsumu was getting married. Probably to the man he was dating over a year ago. The man Sakusa helped Atsumu choose flowers for. Choose tulips for. The man Atsumu loved with his all, the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, the man he would spend the rest of his life with. His sun. 

Sakusa filled a vase with water, wetting his face, ignoring his previously wet cheeks. He filled the crystal with daffodils and placed it on the counter, he sat back down on the stool. 

Ping.

Unknown Number  
-Heyyy its tsumu! save my number omi

His phone was ringing. The screen lit up from the counter. He picked it up. “Omi I’m outside, do ya need help loadin’ anything?” Sakusa shook his head before he could remember Atsumu wasn’t seeing him “they're flowers,” there was a chuckle “no need to get aggressive Omi, I’ll be waiting outside in my car, follow me to the venue” the line went dead. Sakusa tucked his phone into his jumper’s pocket and picked up his keys.

He turned off the ‘We are Open’ sign. He walked out to the florist van, turning the keys to start the engine. He grabbed the cap off the dashboard of the van and put it on.

He caught a glimpse of an ever so familiar set of sly brown eyes through the rearview mirror of the car in front of him. Atsumu started his car, pulling out of his parking space and speeding down the street, Sakusa trailing behind. 

He unloaded the flowers. Atsumu helped him. He thanked him, handed him a piece of paper, shook his hand and smiled. “Thank you for everythin’ Omi, really, you’ve been amazing”. 

Sakusa climbed back into the car. He read the piece of paper. 

‘It’s a pleasure doing business with ya, please don’t lose my contact information quite yet’

Sakusa crumpled the paper, shoving it in his pocket, he turned over the engine, rolled the windows down and drove away. 

The tightness that Sakusa had worked so hard to repress finally caught up to him, it pushed through his stomach, through his throat, and forced stinging, hot tears out of his eyes. The street was blurry and he shut his eyes as hard as he could, willing the tears to disappear, trying his best to clear his vision and focus only on driving. 

He pressed down on the gas pedal, he was sure he was exceeding the limit but he wanted to be as far away as possible from Astumu and his wedding. As if he could leave his emotions in a pile outside of the venue.

How long has it been? Sakusa isn’t sure, but he is sure, this time, he’s moved on.

He’s happy with someone. They live above the shop, a little cramped (they’re both giants after all), but it's comfortable. Their bead creaks at their weight and the coffee machine is a bit too old. But he’s happy, there’s always wide shoulders and strong arms to sleep in. He cleans and cooks and Sakusa calls him his house wife. The other giggles quietly and pecks his lips, coffee as an aftertaste. Sakusa ties his ties, simply because he wants. He kisses Sakusa awake, quiet murmurs of “opening up the shop” and “breakfast is ready” felt on his face rather than heard. They tease each other. They’re happy.

Sakusa is tending to the plants behind the main part of the store when he hears a voice call out “Omi” the voice was so heavy, Sakusa wouldn’t have matched it’s owner to it if not for the nickname. 

“Hey Omi, long time no see,” before he could continue Sakusa emerged from the back of the store. “Atsumu! How’ve you been? Good I hope? What can I help you with today?”

“Omi, what type of flowers do ya take to a funeral?” he exhaled and it seemed that his body deflated. A trail of tears slowly, quietly left his eyes and he stepped toward Sakusa, arms awaiting a hug. Sakusa complied. 

They didn’t move for a while, warm sunlight basking them and hot tears soaking through Sakusa’s shirt. He rubbed Atsumu’s back. 

“Carnations” he said quietly at first and then Atsumu looked up, stepping away from Sakusa, “right, can I get some carnations?” Sakusa nodded and headed towards the cooler. He opened it, “yellow?” Atsumu chuckled, the smallest, driest noise Sakusa had ever heard. “Yes, yellow.”

Sakusa walked over to the counter, wrapping the flowers on instinct. He paused, blanking on the color of the ribbon, hand in mid air, “orange?” Atsumu hummed. “That’s the color, orange” he mumbled the last part, reminiscing probably. 

Sakusa finished wrapping the flowers in silence, he turned around and placed them on the counter. “This is on the house. You take care now Atsumu, you have my information if you ever need anything.”

“Thank you Omi”

Atsumu grabbed the bouquet, turned and slowly walked out of the shop, before pulling open the door he turned back to Sakusa.

He smiled sadly, something pitiful, as if he were carrying the entire weight of the world and then some.

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> hi, thank you for reading this, i will not be capitalizing anything here anymore whew, who knew proper grammar was like/that/,, anyway, i hope you enjoyed this little fic, i sure had fun figuring out their characterizations, honestly sakuatsu have my heart as one of my favorite pairings, their dynamics are amazingly hilarious. I need more canon content of them.
> 
> RIP re-read this before posting and this is so sad bc HQ ended and guess who only had like 5 interactions. Sobs quietly.
> 
> Big thanks to Anna (@/TERULISA on twitter) and anyone who helped edit and saw it in it's weird pre-edited state.
> 
> Also worthy of mention- I wrote this because I want flowers :( I've wanted a bouquet of flowers since like March. sighs sadly.


End file.
